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‘Plot’ hands safe seat to Brownite

A close associate of Lord Browne, the former BP chief executive, was instrumental in helping Labour secure a safe seat for Ed Balls, the right-hand man of chancellor Gordon Brown.

Nick Butler, one of Browne's closest advisers, was used in a plot to oust a sitting MP so that Balls could be assured of the nomination. It will enable Balls, tipped for a cabinet post when Brown becomes prime minister, to continue sharing a weekend home with his wife, who is a Labour MP in a neighbouring constituency.

The plot reveals the close ties between senior Labour figures and BP, the oil group nicknamed "Blair Petroleum".

Butler, a former vice-president for strategy at BP, was set up in a job at Cambridge University's Judge Business School by the company earlier this year. He heads a new Centre for Energy Studies that has been funded by BP with an initial £100,000